AXN to treble its base in next 5 yrs, brings latest US shows

Multi Screen Media's English general entertainment channel AXN is bringing the latest shows from the US to India as part of its bid to treble viewership in the next five years.
The channel, which has a multi-year content deal with US- based CBS Studios International, will access all new shows produced by the latter apart from global hit series, including Hawaii Five-0 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, for airing in India.
Besides, it would also beam other popular English series like Extant, Teen Wolf (season 4), Penny Dreadful and Falling Skies (season 4) on every Friday and Saturday as it looks to tap viewers aged between 15 years and 28 years.

"We have a viewership base of between 2.8 million and 2.9 million on weekly basis all over India. We are aiming to triple it to next 3 to 5 years," Sony PIX & AXN Executive Vice-President and Business Head Saurabh Yagnik told PTI.
The channel's main target audience is the young generation, which is the biggest consumer of the English contents, he added.
"This generation always want to do different things on the weekend. We are trying to connect with them... They are the trigger for consumption of English content," he added.
MSM is also aiming to increase the viewership base of its English movie Channel Sony PIX by beaming latest releases, Yagnik said.

"We would have TV premiers of Hobbit 2nd part, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, RoboCop and Hercules on Sony PIX and AXN both on the same time," Yagnik said.